[Tom]

Simon Cowell has denied Dannii Minogue will be replaced on the next season of The X Factor.

Responding to rumours the Australian judge would be replaced by a young guy, Simon said: "No, I am not going to replace her with a guy, no. As far as I am concerned I think everyone is coming back you know."

But he did claim there was a bit of tension between Dannii and fellow female judge Cheryl Cole.

"I don't think they're gonna be going out for dinner in a hurry, but it doesn't matter, you know, they're there to do a job, they are very competitive with each other and I like that," he said.

And The Xtra Factor presenter Holly Willoughby will also be returning next year, according to Simon.

"She phoned me up actually and said 'I've got some fantastic news' and I thought it was about me and she said 'I'm pregnant' - great. The first thing I asked was when is the baby due? Can you come back next year? May I think it's due, she'll definitely come back next year so we're all happy," he said.

As for this series, viewers have a live performance from Britney Spears to look forward to.

"The fact we've got her on the show and it's her first performance in... two years is fantastic, being Britney she is going to put on a show," said Simon.

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